


Still Your Mind, Love

by comefeedtherainn



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M, M/M, Modern AU, RvB Secret Santa, or maybe post war, who knows it's just cute shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-03 21:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17292158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comefeedtherainn/pseuds/comefeedtherainn
Summary: Carolina's having a shitty holiday season. Her boys give her a distraction.





	Still Your Mind, Love

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for dannidorina over on tumblr for the RVB secret santa! Hope you enjoy, friend, that was really fun!!

Carolina entered the apartment as she often did; in a flurry of red hair and jingling keys, her heavy boots traipsing in excess snow that hadn’t fallen off in the hallway. She grit her teeth as she stuck her keyring on it’s hook and tore off her hat and gloves, grumbling and huffing to herself as she went.

“Uh oh, someone’s cranky.”

She cast a quirked eyebrow over her shoulder at Wash, standing in the entryway to the living room with his hands on hips and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“I am not cranky,” she told him. “I’m irritated. It’s very different.”

“Okay,” Wash conceded, reaching to brush the remaining snow out of her hair before it could melt. “Come on, me and Maine are just watching shitty Hallmark movies.”

Carolina followed him in, poking his ribs as they went and grinning as the resultant squeak lifted her mood a bit. “I happen to like those shitty movies.”

Maine, wrapped up like a gigantic burrito on the couch, gave her an indignant look and pulled his hands out of their warm shelter just to sign “seriously?!” with big round eyes for emphasis.

She snorted, pulling up the corner of the cocoon he’d made and inserting herself with only mild grunts of protest from Maine. “Yes, seriously,” she drawled. “They’re fun. Y’know. Stupid, basically the same story every time. Extremely heterosexual. Sometimes you just wanna watch something that doesn’t require emotional investment.”

“Whatever, weirdo,” Wash teased, flopping on Lina’s other side and sending her bouncing a bit. Maine didn’t move an inch, of course. “So. Let’s hear it. What’s wrong?”

Carolina sighed heavily as she was annoyed all over again, letting her head fall back dramatically against the back of the couch. It hurt a little, but she pretended it hadn’t. “Just my dad. No surprise there.”

“Ah. The annual ‘suddenly I feel like parenting’ schtick,” Wash nodded somberly.

“It’s the worst,” Carolina deadpanned. “If it’s not him trying desperately to act like he has any idea - or gives a damn, frankly - about who I am as a person, it’s the weird sad eyes whenever he talks about my mom.” She realized she was speaking faster the longer she went on, but that didn’t stop her, wide hand gestures being added to the mix. “He makes me absolutely insane. How far away do I have to move before I finally can just be on my own?”

She huffed loudly, blowing her bangs away from her eyes and scowling at the television.

Maine grunted, shaking his head with a frown. “Douche,” he murmured.

Lina snorted, smirking a bit. “Yep. Well said.”

She felt eyes on her and turned to blink at Wash, raising her eyebrows at the intense stare she was met with.

“…hey.”

“I have an idea,” Wash announced, sitting up straighter and rocking himself onto his feet. “Come on. Get your boots and shit back on.”

Maine grumbled at him, his thick brows pulled low over his eyes. “Watching a shitty movie,” he reminded him, barely bothering to pull his hands all the way out of his blanket this time.

Wash rolled his eyes, grabbing Lina’s hand and pulling her up. He tried the same with Maine, groaning as he only managed to send his own socked feet sliding on the floor while Maine stayed put. “Come oooon,” he whined. “I wanna have a snowball fight! The snow’s perfect for it!”

That seemed to be an entirely different story as far as Maine was concerned, his eyes lighting up as he got to his feet so fast Wash almost lost his balance straight into the TV. Maine blinked and reached out to grab him around his waist, grinning and waggling his eyebrows when that just ended up with Wash in a dip like a wilting damsel. Wash snorted, his cheeks turning pink as he swatted Maine’s chest half-heartedly.

“Let me up, you big dork.”

Lina snorted fondly, shaking her head at them as she glanced out the window. “I guess a snowball fight sounds fun.”

“You have to promise not to get competitive this time,” Wash grinned, nudging her playfully. “No making up rules, either.”

“I did not make up rules!” Carolina insisted, laughing when Wash ruffled her hair into her face, making it all frizzy. “Knock it off!”

“No fighting,” Maine told them firmly, pushing them both toward the hallway. “Outside.”

Carolina snickered as she and Wash allowed themselves to be bullied into their heavy jackets, gloves, and hats. She pulled Wash’s beanie down over his eyes, grinning and dancing out the door as he tried to swipe at her and get her back. Maine was right behind them, his big boots thudding noisily on the floor as they made their way downstairs and into the chilly air. There was still a light shower of flakes falling from the sky, and the snow was crunchy underneath their feet.

Wash kicked around in the snow, obliterating bits that had begun to ice over and spraying showers of crystals across the ground. Maine seemed to get distracted, tilting his face up into the gentle snowfall and letting the flakes melt where they met his skin. He looked so content, Lina decided to pelt Wash with the snowball she’d conjured up while they were distracted, instead.

He squawked, whirled around to give her a look of utter betrayal. “Hey! You said you wouldn’t get competitive!”

“Did not!” she grinned, diving to make another as he did the same. “I said I wouldn’t make up rules!”

Wash scoffed, his own smile almost manic as he seemed intent on smashing together a snowball the size of his head. Before he or Lina could get their weapons in order, twin balls of snow pelted them in the sides of their heads. They both looked up with wide eyes to see Maine, grinning from ear to ear like a little shit. They exchanged a brief look, then released matching battle cries as they charged and leapt on him. They knew that the only reason they managed to tackle him into the snow was because he let them, but they still cackling victoriously.

Ten minutes and many snowballs later and they were all soaked, shivering and having lost hats and gotten snow up their shirts on the way. Wash was being pathetic, of course, pouting up at Maine and shivering like a lost puppy.

“I’m cold,” he declared.

Maine sighed, lifting his eyes to the gray sky, and unzipped his coat. He held it open, smirking as Wash happily stepped inside and allowed himself to be zipped up. “Happy?”

“Yes,” Wash smirked.

Carolina laughed quietly, reaching to brush some snow out of Maine’s fuzzy hair. “Maybe we should go inside before poor Wash dies of hypothermia.”

Wash glared at her over the edge of Maine’s jacket. “Hilarious.”

She smooched his cheek noisily, pleased by the faint blush she left behind. “Come on, you two.”

The walk inside was…wet, to put it plainly. They dripped all over the entryway to the apartment building and up the stairs, and made a frigid puddle on the tile next to their own door once they got inside and kicked off their shoes. They left their coats to hang and dry there, as well, before shuffling off to the bedroom to change into something warm.

Ten minutes later and they were all in their fuzziest pajamas, and Carolina’s special hot chocolate recipe was steaming in mugs in between their palms. Lina grinned widely as Maine obediently switched to the Hallmark channel, settling down as her boys snuggled up to either side of her. Wash slid down until his head was basically in the crook of her elbow, and Maine stretched his arm out behind her head.

“Nerds,” she murmured.

Maine smirked, tapping her nose with a warm, affectionate finger.

“We love you, too,” Wash grinned.


End file.
